talk therapy

Thursday, May. 08, 2003

Rick found this today...hunting online for information for me. He rocks. He and I chat through lunch most days now...when he's home and I'm at work and I think it's a different way for us to communicate. I love him for loving me this way, for wanting to help me, understand me and support me.

What Is Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD?)
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a medical condition that affects your body, the way you think, and how you feel and act. It may develop after living through, learning about, or seeing a terrifying event where you feel intense fear, helplessness, and horror. Everyone has probably been scared at some time in their life, and it is normal to go through a period of adjustment after a traumatic event. But when you have PTSD, you may feel like you’re actually reliving the traumatic event all over again, or you may have nightmares or thoughts about it over and over again. You may be just as distressed as if the danger were still present and become emotionally numb and unable to function.

It’s important to remember that PTSD is a real medical condition, like arthritis and asthma. Fortunately, it’s a condition that’s treatable. Learning more about PTSD and the treatment options available, including psychotherapy (“talk therapy”) and medicine, is the first place to start. If you think you may be suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder, talk to your healthcare provider to determine if you have PTSD and what form of treatment may be best for you.

2. Those with prior vulnerability factors such as genetics, early age of onset and longer-lasting childhood trauma, lack of functional social support, and concurrent stressful life events

3. Those who report greater perceived threat or danger, suffering, upset, terror, and horror or fear

4. Those with a social environment that produces shame, guilt, stigmatization, or self-hatred

and that says it all...BETRAYAL...lack of family support.....etc...

I'm going to research and I'm going to stop letting stupid people (Shelley)tell me that what I'm complaining about and suffering through isn't real or that I have no right to claim I feel I have this just because I never went to war. Whatever!